Business Analysis Ii: Apple, Inc

Business Analysis II: Apple, Inc.
Tiffany Lee
University of Phoenix
MGT/521

Business Analysis II: Apple, Inc.

Brand identity, customer satisfaction and a successful track record has made Apple, Inc. who it is today. Its competitive advantage has helped maintain a standard with its rivals in such a competitive electronic industry. Based in California it has trailed its way to different areas of consumer electronics.   Known for its Macintosh, PC the company has grown with its education consumers, graphic designers and government markets. Apple, with the help of its products, has become a billion dollar market and has been doing so for years. “The company’s products quickly developed a following, and in 1980 Apple went public. In 1982 Apple became the first maker of personal computers to exceed $1 billion in annual sales” (Lamiman, 2012). Sales are on a rise and yet each year apple reports for each fiscal year remain above average.
This paper will discuss Apples financial health compared to its competitive companies like Dell and Microsoft. It will also discuss how management uses such financial information to make further future decisions for the company. It will display Apples technological advantages verses Dell and Microsoft, as well as, how globalization has impacted Apples business strategies. A Benchmarking analysis will be compared which will compare   Apple, Dell and Microsofts best practices, operational procedures, products and services.
Apple is most prosperous for its manufacturing of technology. Within the last year Apple, Inc. has been the leading manufacturing company in supply chain performance “Apple Inc. was the supply chain king in 2011, at least according to Gartner Inc.'s standards. The technology research firm ranked Apple No. 1 on its annual Top 25 Supply Chains list published in May” (Katz, 2012).
Apple displays in the chart below that each service and product has increased in sales over the last three years. Apple is known for...